The end of financial year has a way of sneaking up on small business owners. One minute you’re cracking open a cold one at the Ekka, the next minute it’s June and your accountant is asking, very politely, where your receipts are.

If that feels familiar, you’re in good company. Most small business owners we work with are absolute legends at running their business, and absolute average at running their books. That’s why we’ve put together these EOFY tips for small businesses: a no-jargon, Queensland-flavoured guide to making sure you finish FY2025–26 strong, claim everything you’re entitled to, and don’t end up paying tax on money you didn’t really make.

Why EOFY 2026 Matters More Than Usual

A quick reality check before we get to the fun part: the 2025–26 financial year has a few moving pieces that make EOFY tips Queensland businesses really need to pay attention to this year.

• The $20,000 instant asset write-off ends on 30 June 2026. From 1 July 2026, the threshold drops back to $1,000 for most assets. If you’ve been thinking about that new ute, computer setup or coffee machine for the staff room, this is the year.
• The super guarantee is now 12% of ordinary time earnings, up from 11.5%. Make sure your payroll software is keeping up.
• Payday Super starts 1 July 2026, replacing the old quarterly system. We’ll cover this more later, but it means your cash flow rhythm is about to change.
• The ATO’s General Interest Charge is no longer tax deductible from 1 July 2025, so paying late now hurts twice.

The HPartners EOFY Checklist for Small Business Owners

1. Reconcile everything

Before you can claim a single dollar in tax deductions, your books need to actually reflect reality. Go through Xero, MYOB, or whatever cloud accounting software you use and:

• Reconcile every business bank account and credit card to 30 June
• Match invoices to payments (chase the stragglers – see point 4)
• Categorise any “Uncategorised Expense” entries that have been quietly piling up since October
• Check your loan accounts, especially if you’ve borrowed money from the business (Division 7A loves a slip-up here)

If your books are a bit of a hot mess, this is genuinely the most important thing on the list. Garbage in, garbage out, and the ATO doesn’t grade on a curve. Our bookkeeping support team can take this whole job off your plate if you’d rather not spend your weekend swearing at a spreadsheet.

2. Make the most of the $20,000 instant asset write-off

This is the big one for tax deductions small business Australia owners should be jumping on this year. If your aggregated annual turnover is under $10 million, you can immediately deduct the full cost of eligible assets costing less than $20,000 each. Multiple assets, $20K each – there’s no cap on how many.

The catch: the asset has to be installed and ready for use by 30 June 2026. Buying a forklift on 29 June and having it sit at the dealership until July doesn’t count.

Common buys we see at this time of year:

• Tools, equipment and machinery
• Computers, monitors and IT gear
• Office furniture (the desk-and-chair-from-1998 combo has had a good run)
• Vehicles under the relevant cost limit
• Trailers, signage and fit-outs

You can read the full eligibility rules on the ATO’s instant asset write-off page, but if you’re considering a serious purchase, talk to us first. Sometimes the depreciation pool is the better play, especially with the threshold dropping next year.

3. Pay your June quarter super early

Super is only deductible in the year it’s actually received by the employee’s super fund, not the year you pay it. Given clearing houses can take a week or more to process payments, the rule of thumb is: if you want the deduction in FY2025–26, get it lodged by mid-June 2026 at the latest.

While you’re there, double-check:

• You’re paying the correct 12% super guarantee rate
• Contractors who are paid mainly for their labour are getting super too (this catches a lot of business owners out)
• Your concessional contributions cap of $30,000 hasn’t been blown if you’re salary-sacrificing on top

For sole traders and business owners paying themselves super, our superannuation and SMSF advice team can help work out the smartest contribution strategy before 30 June.

4. Write off bad debts (before 30 June, not after)

Got that one client who promised to pay “next week” back in October? If you’ve genuinely tried to recover the debt and it’s not going to happen, you can write it off as a deduction, but only if you formally write it off in your accounts before 30 June. Make a record of the decision, the date, and the reason.

5. Review and prepay deductible expenses

Small business entities (under $10m turnover) get a handy concession: you can prepay expenses for up to 12 months and claim the full deduction this year. Common candidates include:

• Business insurance premiums
• Software subscriptions and SaaS tools
• Rent on business premises
• Industry memberships and licences
• Professional development and training

If your business has had a strong year and you’re heading into a higher tax bracket, prepaying can be a smart way to smooth the tax bill. If you’ve had a quieter year, it might not be, which is why a quick chat with our tax planning and forecasting team before you go on a prepayment spree is worth its weight in BAS lodgements.

6. Stocktake

If you carry trading stock, you need a physical stocktake at 30 June. Obsolete or damaged stock can be written down to its lower value, which reduces your taxable income. This is one of those quietly powerful deductions a lot of business owners skip because it feels tedious. (It is tedious. Do it anyway.)

7. Check your home office and motor vehicle records

If you run your business from home (even partly) you may be able to claim a portion of running costs. The ATO’s fixed rate method is currently 70 cents per hour, and you must keep an actual diary or timesheet of hours worked from home. Not a vibe. Not a guess. An actual record.

For more detail on this, our recent guide on work from home tax deductions walks through both the fixed rate and actual cost methods.

For motor vehicles, if you’re using the logbook method, make sure your logbook is current (they last 5 years), and that you’ve recorded your odometer reading at 30 June. If you’re using the cents-per-kilometre method, you can claim up to 5,000 business kilometres per car.

8. Sort out your Single Touch Payroll finalisation

If you employ staff, you need to lodge your STP finalisation declaration through your payroll software by 14 July 2026. This is what pre-fills your employees’ tax returns, so missing it isn’t just an ATO issue, it’s a “your team is calling you on a Sunday” issue.

9. Review your business structure

EOFY is a natural moment to ask: is my structure still doing me favours? The right structure can save you thousands in tax, protect your personal assets, and make growing or selling the business much easier down the track.

If you’re a sole trader who’s been thinking about incorporating, our blog on sole trader vs company structures is a good starting point. For something more tailored, our business structure and compliance specialists can map out the options.

10. Get your records in order — and keep them for 5 years

The ATO requires you to keep tax records for five years from the date you lodge. Receipts, invoices, bank statements, payroll reports, asset registers, the lot. Digital is fine, as long as it’s legible and accessible.

A quick rule we share with clients: if you couldn’t find proof of a deduction in 30 seconds, you’d better not claim it.

A Few Traps to Dodge in 2026

A handful of things have changed this year that catch business owners out:

• General Interest Charges are no longer deductible. Translation: paying the ATO late costs you more than ever. If cash flow is tight, talk to us before the deadline, not after.
• Payday Super kicks in from 1 July 2026. You’ll need to pay super every pay run instead of quarterly. Now is the time to stress-test your cash flow with our cash flow and budgeting tools.
• The ATO is leaning harder on STP accuracy and trust structures. If you’ve been winging it, please stop winging it.

The Bottom Line

EOFY isn’t just a deadline, it’s the one time of year you genuinely get to influence how much tax you pay. Done well, it’s worth thousands. Done badly, it’s worth thousands. Same numbers, very different vibes.

If you’re a Queensland small business owner and any part of this checklist made you go “huh, I should probably look into that,” we’d love to help. We work with businesses across Brisbane, Toowoomba and the rest of the Sunshine State on everything from BAS lodgements to full business advisory and tax planning.

Let’s Make EOFY 2026 Your Easiest One Yet

📞 Call HPartners on 1300 656 260 or book a chat with our team – we’ll walk through your books, flag the deductions you might be missing, and have you heading into 1 July with a plan instead of a panic.

Already a client? Get in touch with your adviser and we’ll lock in your EOFY review.

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